1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

American college football season August 2023 January 2026 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football Buckeyes logo.svg 125 Big Ten Conference Big Ten 2 2 11–1 7–1 John Cooper 9th Joe Hollis 5th SinglebackSports Illustrated Mayhorn Patrick https://www.landgrantholyland.com/2018/5/2/17279712/ohio-state-football-college-offense-evolution-history A brief history of Ohio State's offensive innovation May 2, 2018 August 19, 2026 Fred Pagac 1st 4–3 Orlando Pace Juan Porter Greg Bellisari Ohio Stadium Big Ten co-championRose Bowl champion Rose Bowl W 20–17 vs. Arizona State The 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes football team was an American football team that represented the Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their ninth year under head coach John Cooper, the Buckeyes compiled an 11–1 record (7–1 in conference games), tied with Northwestern for the Big Ten championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 455 to 131. Against ranked opponents, the Buckeyes defeated No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 4 Penn State, and No. 20 Iowa, but lost to No. 21 Michigan in the final game of the regular season. The Buckeyes concluded the season with a 20–17 victory over No. 2 Arizona State in the 1997 Rose Bowl. Ohio State was ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll.1996 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football August 4, 2025 https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/ohio-state/1996-schedule.html The Buckeyes gained an average of 217.2 rushing yards and 196.3 passing yards per game. On defense, they gave up 89.5 rushing yards and 133.5 passing yards per game.1996 Ohio State Buckeyes Stats Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football August 4, 2025 https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/ohio-state/1996.html Quarterback duties were split between junior Stanley Jackson (1,239 passing yards) and sophomore Joe Germaine (1,062 passing yards). The team's other statistical leaders included running back Pepe Pearson (1,373 rushing yards) and wide receiver Dimitrious Stanley (38 receptions for 705 yards). Offensive tackle Orlando Pace, defensive end Mike Vrabel, and defensive back Shawn Springs were selected as consensus first-team All-Americans.Football Award Winners National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2016 December 11, 2017 3, 15 http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2016/awards.pdf Four Ohio State players received first-team honors on the 1996 All-Big Ten Conference football team: Pace (Coaches/Media); Vrabel (Coaches/Media); Springs (Coaches/Media); and defensive end Matt Finkes (Coaches/Media).1996 All-Big Ten Team Purdue University March 5, 2015 http://www.purduesports.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/pur-m-footbl-allbig10.html April 2, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150402151157/http://www.purduesports.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/pur-m-footbl-allbig10.html dead The team played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Schedule 1996 AP Eastern September 7 12:00 p.m. w y 10 Rice Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH ESPN Plus 70–7 93,479 September 21 12:30 p.m. w y 7 Pittsburgh Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH ESPN 72–0 93,959 September 28 2:30 p.m. w y y 4 Notre Dame 5 Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN College GameDay NBC 29–16 59,075 October 5 3:30 p.m. w 3 Penn State 4 Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH rivalry, College GameDay ABC 38–7 94,241 October 12 3:30 p.m. w 2 Wisconsin Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH ABC 17–14 94,215 October 19 3:30 p.m. w y 2 Purdue Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN ABC 42–14 60,172 October 26 3:30 p.m. w y 2 Iowa 20 Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA College GameDay ABC 38–26 70,397 November 2 12:30 p.m. w 2 Minnesota Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH ESPN2 45–0 93,588 November 9 12:30 p.m. w y 2 Illinois Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL Illibuck ESPN 48–0 54,412 November 16 3:30 p.m. w y 2 Indiana Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN ABC 27–17 49,271 November 23 12:00 p.m. l 2 Michigan 21 Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH rivalry ABC 9–13 94,676 January 1, 1997 4:30 p.m. w y y 4 Arizona State 2 Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA Rose Bowl ABC 20–17 100,635 The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia Park Jack 2003 Sports Publishing LLC Champaign, IL 1-58261-695-7 Rankings 1996 NCAA Division I-A football rankings AP 0 17 9 9 10 8 7 4 3 (1) 2 (24) 2 (7) 2 (4) 2 (4) 2 (5) 2 (17) 2 (7) 6 5 4 2 (1½) Coaches Poll 0 17 10 10 9 7 6 4 (2) 3 (5) 2 (20) 3 (2) 3 (1) 3 (4) 3 (4) 2 (16) 2 (9) 6 5 4 2 (4) Game summaries Rice Rice 0 7 0 0 Ohio St 21 21 21 7 September 7 Ohio Stadium 93,479 ESPN+ yes 1 OHST Lumpkin 2 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 7–0 1 OHST Pearson 8 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 14–0 1 OHST Pearson 22 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 21–0 2 OHST Stanley 15 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 28–0 2 RICE Perry 5 yard run (Ruff kick) Ohio St 28–7 2 OHST Boston 58 yard pass from S Jackson (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 35–7 2 OHST Wiley 49 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 42–7 3 OHST Pearson 25 yard run (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 49–7 3 OHST Wiley 51 yard pass from Germaine (Jo Jackson kick) Ohio St 56–7 3 OHST Wiley 60 yard pass from Germaine (Stamp kick) Ohio St 63–7 4 OHST Je Jackson 3 yard run (Stamp kick) Ohio St 70–7 yes USA Today Pittsburgh Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 Ohio St 21 31 13 7 September 21 Ohio Stadium Notre Dame Ohio St 12 10 7 0 Notre Dame 7 0 3 6 September 28 Notre Dame Stadium Penn State Penn St 0 0 0 7 Ohio St 10 14 7 7 October 5 Ohio Stadium Wisconsin Wisconsin 0 7 0 7 Ohio St 0 3 7 7 October 12 Ohio Stadium Purdue Ohio St 7 7 14 14 Purdue 14 0 0 0 October 19 Ross–Ade Stadium Iowa Ohio St 17 14 7 0 Iowa 3 3 6 14 October 26 Kinnick Stadium Minnesota Minnesota 0 0 0 0 Ohio St 0 10 21 14 November 2 Ohio Stadium Illinois Ohio St 0 28 20 0 Illinois 0 0 0 0 November 9 Memorial Stadium Indiana Ohio St 0 7 0 20 Indiana 0 3 7 7 November 16 Memorial Stadium Michigan Michigan 0 0 10 3 Ohio St 3 6 0 0 November 23 Ohio Stadium Rose Bowl 1997 Rose Bowl Ohio St 7 0 7 6 Arizona St 0 7 3 7 January 1 Rose Bowl Ohio State went into the Rose Bowl with high hopes, and Germaine came off the bench and threw a late touchdown pass to David Boston to steal a come-from-behind victory. With the Buckeyes dramatic upset victory over the Sun Devils, Buckeye fans hoped for a share of the national title. However, Florida later avenged a late season loss to their rivals, and beat the Seminoles by a score of 52–20. Florida finished first and Ohio State second in both polls, followed by Florida State and Arizona State. The Rose Bowl appearance was the Buckeyes first since 1985. The Rose Bowl victory was the sixth in school history, the first since 1974. Germaine was named Rose Bowl MVP. Personnel Roster 1996 Ohio State Buckeyes f 9 So David Boston WR y 57 Sr LeShun Daniels G y LeShun Daniels Sr. 82 Fr Mike Furrey WR y 7 So Joe Germaine QB y 15 So Dee Miller WR 33 So Joe Montgomery RB y 56 Fr Rob Murphy G 75 Jr Orlando Pace T y 6 Fr Jimmy Redmond WR 3 Sr Dimitrious Stanley WR y 77 Fr Tyson Walter C y 5 Fr Michael Wiley Michael Wiley (running back, born 1978) RB y 30 Sr Greg Bellisari LB y 1 Fr Gary Berry S y 73 FR Joe Brown Joe Brown (American football) dt y 32 Fr Na'il Diggs LB y 99 Sr Luke Fickell DT y 68 Jr Winfield Garrett DT 2 Sr Ty Howard CB y 45 Fr Andy Katzenmoyer LB y 34 Sr Rob Kelly Rob Kelly (American football) S y 20 So Central McClellion CB y 43 Sr Ryan Miller LB 13 So Damon Moore SS y 19 Fr Ahmed Plummer CB y 24 Jr Shawn Springs CB y 94 Sr Mike Vrabel LB y 11 So Antoine Winfield Antoine Winfield Sr. CB y 41 So Brent Bartholomew P y 87 Fr Kevin Houser LS y https://web.archive.org/web/19961225151843/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/big10/sfcd08ra.htm *John Cooper Coaching staff John Cooper, head coach (9th year) Bill Conley, defensive ends, recruiting coordinator (10th year) Walt Harris, quarterbacks (2nd year) Jim Heacock, defensive line (1st year) Joe Hollis, offensive coordinator (6th year) Mike Jacobs, offensive line (2nd year) Fred Pagac, defensive coordinator, linebackers (15th year) Tim Spencer, running backs (3rd year) Chuck Stobart, wide receivers (2nd year) Jon Tenuta, defensive backs (1st year) Depth chart I-Formation 4-3 Yes Yes No 8 Stanley Jackson 7 Joe Germaine 29 Pepe Pearson 25 Jermon Jackson 37 Nicky Sualua 39 Matt Calhoun 9 David Boston 12 Buster Tillman SE 3 Dimitrious Stanley 15 Dee Miller FL 85 John Lumpkin 75 Orlando Pace 56 Rob Murphy 65 Juan Porter 57 LeShun Daniels 50 Eric Gohlstin 43 Ryan Miller 35 Jerry Rudzinski WLB 45 Andy Katzenmoyer 51 Roedell Dupree 30 Greg Bellisari 52 Kevin Johnson SLB 34 Rob Kelly 26 Anthony Gwinn 13 Damon Moore 18 Che Bryant SS 2 Ty Howard 24 Shawn Springs 11 Antoine Winfield 94 Mike Vrabel 99 Luke Fickell 62 Shane Clark 68 Winfield Garnett 97 John Day 92 Matt Finkes 4 Josh Jackson 41 Brent Bartholomew 23 Matt Keller (FB) 85 85 No 1986 Ohio State Football Media Guide Awards and honors Andy Katzenmoyer, Big Ten Freshman of the Year 1997 NFL draftees 2 Ohio State Buckeyes Player Round Pick Position NFL club Orlando Pace 1 1 Tackle St. Louis Rams Shawn Springs 1 3 Defensive back Seattle Seahawks Rob Kelly 2 33 Defensive back New Orleans Saints Ty Howard 3 84 Defensive back Arizona Cardinals Mike Vrabel 3 91 Defensive end Pittsburgh Steelers Nicky Sualua 4 129 Running back Dallas Cowboys Matt Finkes 6 189 Defensive end Carolina Panthers 1997 NFL Draft Listing https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1997/draft.htm 2024-12-11 Pro-Football-Reference.com en References Ohio State Category:Ohio State Buckeyes football seasons Category:Big Ten Conference football champion seasons Category:Rose Bowl champion seasons Ohio State Buckeyes football